Finally Someone Says It! Marsha Blackburn: Senators Running for President Must Recuse From Impeachment Trial

Article by Sistah Toldjah in "RedState":

For weeks, Democrats, liberal commentators and media types have been demanding that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recuse himself from the Senate’s impeachment trial because he declared in no uncertain terms that he had no intentions of being impartial.

Though many of the same Democrats pushing this talking point have been shown to be massive hypocrites on the matter, nevertheless the calls have persisted.

Not mentioned, however, by these same Democrats who are so “concerned” with whether or not McConnell will be able to be a fair and impartial juror is the fact that there are four Democratic Senators currently running to oust Trump in the fall who have very vested interests in seeing him impeached.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took a moment to remind voters and the mainstream media both of this staggering conflict of interest in a statement issued Wednesday – the same day the articles of impeachment were transmitted to the Senate.

From her statement:

“Tomorrow, one hundred United States Senators will be sworn in to serve in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Four of those Senators must recuse themselves for their unparalleled political interest in seeing this President removed from office. These four Democrats, Senators Bennet, Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren, cannot sit in judgment of the very President they seek to replace. To participate in this trial would be a failure of the oath they took to be an ‘impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws’. Their presidential ambitions prohibit their ability to view this trial through an objective lens.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn ✔ @MarshaBlackburn

.@SenSanders, @SenWarren, @SenAmyKlobuchar, and @SenatorBennet are spending millions of dollars to defeat @realDonaldTrump, and we’re supposed to believe they will be impartial during the trial?

They should recuse themselves.

She stated that there was precedent for such recusal calls

Sen. Marsha Blackburn ✔ @MarshaBlackburn

Replying to @MarshaBlackburn and 5 others

This is rooted in history and precedence. During the 1868 impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, there was an objection to the participation of Senator Benjamin Wade— who would have succeeded as President if Johnson was removed

Blackburn also appeared on Fox News Thursday morning to expand on her point:

Sen. Marsha Blackburn ✔ @MarshaBlackburn

How can @SenSanders, @SenWarren, @SenAmyKlobuchar, and @SenatorBennet do impartial justice under the Constitution from 9 am – 6 pm and then go campaign against @realDonaldTrump afterward? They should recuse themselves
The odds of Warren, Sanders, Bennet, and Klobuchar recusing themselves from the trial are at zero, of course. But still, Blackburn is right to point out the obvious conflicts of interest here and to say, in so many words, if Democrats want to play the recusal game Republicans can go there, too.
On a related note, if mainstream media journalists really are so concerned with how fair the Senate trial is going to be, they should ask these 4 Senators why they don’t hold themselves to the standard Schumer demands of McConnell.

Not gonna happen, of course, but it’s worth pointing out anyway.

https://www.redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2020/01/16/finally-someone-says-it-marsha-blackburn-senators-running-for-president-recuse-impeachment-trial/